In 2016, the unprecedented election of Donald Trump left residents of Washington, DC—a city that overwhelmingly supported his opponent—feeling very uneasy about their future neighbor.

Nando’s PERi-PERi, whose ever-expanding American presence is headquartered in Washington, DC, sought to soothe the city’s mounting anxiety.

Our goal was simple: to ease the tension in DC by rejecting exclusion and promoting the inclusivity, diversity, and acceptance at Nando’s core.

Given Nando’s history of international social commentary, we made a statement expressing equality in the most straightforward, public way possible:

Nando’s PERi-PERi is an IMMIGRANT EMPLOYING, GAY LOVING, MUSLIM RESPECTING, EQUAL PAYING, MULTICULTURAL chicken restaurant where EVERYONE IS WELCOME.

Nando’s placed this message in the windows, at the counters, and on staff at every DC location. We placed it on the web for download, and in the Washington Post Express 11 days before Inauguration.

We followed up by encouraging the public to participate, inserting 60,000 posters in the paper as preparation for the Inaugural crowd.

The campaign met a warm reception. And, unsurprisingly, drew conservative ire. Some people got angry for the wrong reasons. But fans, big and small, rushed to defend the campaign. Some might even say…

Nando’s like-for-like sales increased by 98 percent during the heart of the campaign. It garnered earned media valued at over $2 million and saw an increase in unprompted brand awareness of 11 percent.

But the message did a lot of good in other ways: Nando’s donated 50 percent of Inaugural weekend profits to DC Central Kitchen, a charity fighting hunger, and poverty in the city.

While protests continued in DC after Inauguration, EVERYONE IS WELCOME signs continued to pop up in the ongoing resistance taking place across the country.

But in the end, we demonstrated the higher ideals which not only drive Nando’s, but helped shape America: that EVERYONE is created equal, EVERYONE has rights, and EVERYONE IS WELCOME.